As part of my #selfimprovement  kick, I've begun to organize my life, and read more thought-provoking stuff. One such piece is on the topic of #DigitalHoarders. A 🧵

The article (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/four-kinds-digital-hoarding/), from the @BigThink, discusses four types of "digital hoarding" behaviors. Digital Hoarders don't hoard physical things, trash, or animals. Rather, they collect information and store data unnecessarily.

From the piece: "Several studies https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/well/mind/clutter-stress-procrastination-psychology.html have shown that physical clutter has an adverse effect on our productivity https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9679-4 and well-being https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20053034. But in today’s always-online world, we also have to worry about digital clutter."

This really spoke to me -- as it both touches on the #psychology  of why people hoard, and provides clarity on the types of hoarding behavior we might easily see, an especially important skill for those of us in #datagovernance  who try to counsel folks to avoid #datahoarding.


So why do we do it? Much of it, but not all, is due to anxiety, or a feeling of diminished control. Like physical hoarding, it often has negative effects (though I suspect that more of us do it rather unconsciously).

But in addition to the harm it wreaks on individuals, #digitalhoarding  also creates a huge risk: When we over-collect or keep data, we run afoul of the GDPR Principles. In short, there is no "hoarder exception" under Article 5.

Remember: Personal Data must be collected for 'specified, explicit and legitimate purposes', 'adequate, relevant and limited', and kept 'for no longer than is necessary' for those purposes.

A 2020 Study (https://academic.oup.com/iwc/article/32/3/209/5898270?login=false) identified four types of #digitalhoarders who are likely running afoul of those principles:
1. Anxious hoarders -- people keep and store data to soothe their anxieties.

2. Accidental hoarders -- people don't intentionally hoard data, they just don't know how to organize it. (an aside: bigtech  is notorious for this (https://theintercept.com/2022/09/07/facebook-personal-data-no-accountability/) and the next type).

3. Compliance hoarders -- people save files because someone or something else* says it's important or mandatory. Or, I'd argue, individuals have a perception that there's an obligation -- even if it's entirely in their own minds.

Finally, there's 4. Organized hoarders -- also called collectors, these are people who have "purposely stored, well-organized digital files". Now, this is really not hoarding -- unless, despite the organization, there's still no need for keeping the information in the first place

For #DPOs  trying to overcome the inertia of a corporate (or individual) mindset committed to the over-storage of #personaldata, it's important to think about the why as much as the what and the how.

When your clients push back on deletion (or anonymization or pseudonymization), try to interrogate why they're pushing back. Is compliance to blame? Is it more an accidental thing? Do individuals feel anxious or overwhelmed by the data?

Delving into the psychology may help us develop strategies for overcoming the habit in the first place.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/PrivaCat/LSmh0J3